


Not So Easy

by orphan_account



Category: Toy Story (Movies)
Genre: M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:36:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5569399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something's bothering Buzz, and Slinky Dog is determined to figure out what it is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not So Easy

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place the day after _Toy Story 2_ ends.

"Well, that was easy."

Slinky Dog cocked an ear and peered down from the windowsill where he was sunning himself in the morning light.  Buzz Lightyear was pacing back and forth beneath the window, talking to someone Slink couldn't see.  He glanced out the window to assure himself that Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye were out in the yard, where Andy was staging a roundup of Bo Peep's sheep (and Hamm, who had gone from evil dictator to livestock, albeit livestock that was three times the size of the sheep).  Slink turned back to Andy's room, where the other toys all seemed to be occupying themselves.  Everyone was accounted for-- so that meant Buzz was talking to himself.  Slinky Dog decided he'd better put a stop to that before Buzz ended up losing it and calling himself Mrs. Nesbit again.

"What was easy?" Slink asked.  Buzz jumped and looked up guiltily.

"Oh, hey Slinky.  Didn't see you up there."  Buzz seemed to hesitate a moment, then clambered up on the sill to join the toy dog.

"You weren't talkin' about rescuin' Woody being easy, were you?" Slinky Dog said sternly.  "'Cause I don't know about how it is for you Space Rangers, but for us non-action-figure-types, crossin' highways and sneakin' into buildings is tough work."

Buzz chuckled a little and patted Slink on the head.  "No, of course not.  And for a, uh, 'non-action-figure-type' you did great."  He sat down, facing out the window and sighed faintly.  "You all did."

Apparently he didn't feel like telling Slinky what was so easy.  Slink considered for a minute, then walked his front end over to Buzz and lay down next to him.  "Somethin' botherin' you, Buzz?"

"No," Buzz replied, altogether too quickly.  Okay, so that was a yes in disguise.  Slinky Dog wished fervently that certain toys-- namely Buzz and Woody and maybe Jessie from the looks of it-- didn't act so much like humans.  Most toys, like Hamm and Rex and the others, were pretty straightforward.  You asked a question, you got a simple answer.  ( _Very_ simple in Rex's case.)  But action figures seemed to be different.

Slinky Dog figured he'd have to handle this Slinky-style. . . leave the back end behind to distract the target while the front end sniffed out the truth, so to speak.

"Well, I know I for one have a lot to think about after the past couple days," Slink said casually.  "I guess I never really wondered what would happen to us when Andy. . . you know, grows up.  I mean, we've all worried about yard sales, or gettin’ broken or whatever.  But after what Jessie told us last night, about her owner growin’ up--"

"Ach, don't worry about it, Slink."  Buzz scratched him idly behind the ears, making Slinky's right back leg thump of its own accord.  "I don't think Andy'll ever just dump us like that.  We might go up on the shelf, or even in the attic. . . but we'll still be together then."  He leaned forward until his nose was almost touching the window pane.  ". . . To infinity and beyond," he murmured.

Hmm.  So Buzz wasn't worried about Andy.  Funny, since he seemed to be watching the boy's game with Woody and the others intently.  Slinky searched his brain for other things that might be bothering Buzz.  Maybe the encounter with Zurg and the other Buzz Lightyear?

"I wonder if that other Buzz is gonna get an owner soon," Slinky mused.  "He seemed like a nice guy."

"Once he got through pummeling me and citing me for insubordination," Buzz muttered, but he was smiling.

"And what about Zurg being your father?" Slinky pressed on, prodding Buzz's hand a little with his nose.  He told himself it was to make a point, but he really just wanted his ear scratched some more.

"Slinky, I'm a toy.  I don't have a father."  Buzz glanced down at him.  "You're getting weird on me."

"Sorry.  I guess that other Buzz rubbed off on me a little."  Slinky frowned; he wasn't getting anywhere with this.

Buzz squinted out the window.  "Hey, I think Andy's coming in."  He hopped to his feet and called to the other toys to get back to where Andy had left them.

 _Think, Slink, think,_ Slinky Dog told himself as he lay sprawled partially under the bed and waited for Andy to get up to his room.  _If you were a Space Ranger, what would get you down?  Besides thinking about getting sold, or meeting your clone, or finding out that your worst enemy is your dad?_   He couldn't think of a thing.

Taking the risk of moving, he cut his eyes across the floor to where Buzz was propped up against a box.  Mrs. Potato Head was there as well, surrounded by the three little aliens who, unknown to Andy, were now her adopted children.  Before breakfast, the aliens had "kidnapped" Mrs. P, but Andy's mom had pancakes ready before Buzz could save her.

Finally, Slinky heard Andy's feet on the stairs, and a moment later the boy burst into the room.

"Sorry guys," he apologized as he dumped Jessie and Bullseye unceremoniously on the bed.  "Mom said I could only take one toy to the grocery store."  As he went back out the door, Slinky saw Woody dangling from his hand.  At least Andy wasn't taking Buzz this week; otherwise Slinky might never find out what was going on.

"I think he's forgotten all about rescuing me," Mrs. P sniffed after Andy had gone.

"Yeah, how do you think I feel?" Mr. Potato Head grumbled.  "My wife gets kidnapped, and I don't even get to save her."

Buzz laughed and got up again.  "Don't worry, I'm not going to put any moves on her."  He thumped Mr. P good-naturedly on the back, accidentally jolting the spud's nose out.

Jessie and Bullseye had clambered down off the bed to join the other toys.  "Hey, Slink Doggy Dogg!" Jessie grinned, leaning down to scratch him under the chin.  "Whatcha hidin' under there for?"

"Just checkin' my springs," Slinky replied as he trotted his back end out from under the bed.  Jessie had already lost interest and hopped onto Bullseye's back for a canter around the room, giving Buzz a lady-like wink as she rode past.  Buzz smiled back, but his smile faded as soon as she wasn't looking.

So that was it.  Buzz's problem was with Jessie.  Slinky's ears pricked up as he watched Buzz turn away and go back to the window.  He wasn't sure how Buzz could already be having relationship problems with someone he had just met the day before, but maybe it was an action figure thing.

With a good bit of effort, Slinky rejoined Buzz on the window sill.  "I'll help you keep watch if you don't mind."

Buzz looked down at him and smiled.  "Thanks, Slink.  In a way I'll be glad when school starts again-- at least then we _know_ when Andy will be coming in."

"It must be rough on you havin' to keep an eye on things when Woody's not around," Slinky said only half-consciously as he tried to think of a way to bring up Jessie.

"I don't know how he does it."  Buzz spoke so softly, Slinky barely heard him.  He looked up at the Space Ranger, who really did have his nose against the window this time.  "He's amazing.  It's a hard job."

"Uh, yeah."  Suddenly Slink forgot all about Jessie.  This was the perfect opening!  "Although I thought you said it was easy," he went on casually.

"What?"  Buzz gave him a surprised look.  "When did I say Woody's job was easy?"

"Just a little while ago, when you came over here.  You said 'Well, that was easy.'  Weren't you talking about having to do the morning roll call since Woody was outside?"

"Oh. . . no, I wasn't talking about the roll call.  Or Woody's job.  I meant--"  Buzz broke off and faced the glass once more.  "Never mind."

"Aw, c'mon, Buzz," Slinky said desperately.  "I know I'm not too bright, but I can tell when my friends are upset.  What's the matter?  I just wanna help."

Buzz started, then picked up Slink's front end and set it in his lap.  "I'm sorry, Slinky.  I sort of forget sometimes that you're a little more, ah, perceptive than some of the others."  He stroked Slinky's head and looked out the window as he spoke.  "Promise you won't tell anyone-- not even Woody."

Slinky blinked in surprise but kept his voice normal.  "'Course I promise."

"I was. . . well, I was talking about Jessie."

". . . You're sayin’ Jessie's easy?"

Buzz nearly fell off the windowsill.  " _No_!  I meant it was easy to. . . well, you know how Bo Peep and Woody are.  It was easy for me and Jessie to end up that way.  To. . . uh. . . ."

"Hook up?"

Buzz poked Slinky's nose sternly.  "You've been watching too much TV.  Not hook up.  It was easy to make her my girlfriend.  If that's what you'd call it."

"Ohhhh."  Slinky rested his chin on Buzz's knee.  "Well, is that a problem?  I think it's nice.  Woody's got Bo. . . Mr. P has Mrs. P. . . you have Jessie."

Buzz didn't sound like he thought it was nice at all, for some reason.  "But what about the rest of you?"

"Oh, don't worry about us-- we're happy the way we are.  You guys are different anyway.  You're. . . you're like people."

"And that's supposed to be encouraging?  Look how messed up people are," Buzz muttered.  "You're lucky, Slink.  Feeling this way is hard."

"Liking someone is hard?"

Buzz's shoulders slumped.  "Yeah."

Slinky still didn't really understand.  If liking Jessie was hard, then why had Buzz said it was easy to be her boyfriend or whatever you call it?  And what was hard about liking Jessie in the first place?  After all, she liked Buzz back, so that wasn't the problem.  Plus she was cute, she was funny, she could rope and ride. . . in fact, she was a lot like Woody would be if he were a girl.

Slinky crawled out of Buzz's lap and looked down at Jesse playing quick-draw with Etch-a-Sketch.  Yeah, she was _just_ like Woody.

Just like Woody. . . .

 _Sweet mother of Rubik's Cube._   As the truth finally dawned on Slinky, his mind was so preoccupied he forgot all about his back end, and it slipped off the window sill and crashed to the floor.

"Whoa!" Slinky yelped.  His front end would have joined his rear if Buzz hadn't grabbed his paws.

"Slink, you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little slip.  Let me down easy, will ya?"  Buzz complied, and Slinky crawled back under the bed to hash things out.

So that was the problem.  Buzz liked Woody, not Jessie.  But Woody had Bo Peep-- or to be more accurate, Bo Peep had Woody.  (Slink had always thought their relationship seemed a little one-sided, but he knew better than to say anything and risk getting bopped with a shepherd's crook.)  So Buzz had made a move for the next best thing.

Well, Slinky had solved the mystery, but he didn't feel any better for it.  After all, what could he do?  He hated to see Buzz sad, but Slinky had promised not to say anything to anyone-- plus he wasn't about to get on the bad side of Bo _and_ Jessie.

Slinky was still under the bed puzzling when Andy came home.  He did remember to rescue Mrs. P after all.  According to Andy, Mr. P was ecstatic to see her and offered all the money in Hamm as a reward.  Buzz gallantly refused, announcing that helping a friend was the best reward of all.

With the Spud Princess duly rescued, Andy moved on to another game that apparently involved the rounding up of a herd of Army Men.  A few escaped Ranchman Woody's lasso, and Jessie was trotted off on Bullseye to retrieve them while Woody leaned against the cardboard box barn with Buzz.  Slinky watched as Woody stealthily winked at Buzz when Andy's back was turned.  Buzz raised his eyebrows with a smile, but when Woody looked away, the smile disappeared.  Buzz's eyes searched out Slinky's gaze from under the bed.  Slinky's ears drooped in sympathy, and he had a feeling that Buzz knew that _he_ knew.

 _Yeah,_ thought Slinky as Andy grabbed the Space Ranger and cowboy to aid in the roundup, _helping a friend is great.  But what about when you **can't** help-- when helping would hurt someone else?_   Slinky turned away and curled up under the bed.  _I'm sorry Buzz,_ he thought, but solving the problem of human feelings-- of love-- was more than a single little Slinky Dog could ever hope to do.

\--

The End


End file.
